


The Devil Within

by Slynx



Series: Phoenix [4]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Chess, M/M, Slow Burn, Strategy & Tactics, TW: Blood, war games
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:54:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26006788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slynx/pseuds/Slynx
Summary: Gabriel Reyes is back and ready to take down Talon any way he can. With his brilliant mind back in control, a devilish game of chess becomes key to leading Overwatch to victory. However, with a host of unknown factors just out of reach, a new voice in his head that challenges his entire view of the world, and a budding romance with the one person he never thought he'd have a chance with, Gabriel finds himself torn between priorities. Whoever said planning a rebellion against an international terrorist organization was easy?
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: Phoenix [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553611
Comments: 28
Kudos: 35





	1. Check Your King

Perhaps it took more than a few moments of staring at a chess board to defeat Talon.

Overwatch missions continued on, multiple missions popping up around the globe as Null Sector divisions sprang up at random and laid waste to anything within reach. Talon itself was surprisingly quiet, surely basking in the chaos of it all and too self-satisfied to act much on its own. The U.N. hadn't yet come knocking at Gibraltar's door, but it was only a matter of time-

They needed a plan. They needed a strategy.

Every day, Talon grew stronger. His uncertainty had disappeared along with the inhibitor, Talon's dismantling a firm priority in his mind now that he knew what side of the fight he really wanted to be on. It had only taken getting his mind back, if only partially-

Water splashed up and ran off his skin in rivulets, Gabriel staring himself down in the mirror. A few droplets caught under the ruins of what had been a nose, a few more seeming to linger across the splotches of pale skin that had decided to take residence above his chin for the moment. He had no idea why they moved but, hell, he didn't exactly know why or how he was currently still breathing either so that was surely a mystery for another time.

Razor blades scraped away the stubble attempting to grow in the spaces he didn't want it to, the man too lost in thought to realize he'd cut himself, the black blood beading before seeping right back into the wound and healing over. The daily trips to the medbay had ended yesterday at least, Ziegler finally satisfied with his progress. Study of the inhibitor Zenyatta had extracted had solved a few mysteries, the most important of all being his apparent 'episodes'. Something about linking to his spinal cord and the cybernetic implant- eh. Whatever. What mattered was that he was finally fully in control and was now cleared for missions once a few training regs had been completed. Easy.

But the _chess game_ \- the chess pulled at every iota of his brain these days. Gabriel could hardly concentrate on anything else. He was so close to finding the right way to express the situation on the board and yet- and _yet_ -

Another splash of water, cotton towel wiping the remnants of the shaving cream away, and he finally appeared mostly fit for the day. He'd become a bit more conscious of his looks upon waking, though Gabriel tried to shake off the feeling as much as he possibly could. Who cared what he looked like? It didn't matter.

_Jack would be worried if you looked scruffy or sick._

Fuck, now that was another can of worms. It wasn't that he was avoiding Jack, per say. It was more that he wanted to know what he could say upon seeing him instead of having his brain drain away every rational thought. On one occasion two mornings prior, Gabriel had found the words 'you smell nice' drop from his mouth instead of 'good morning'. Both men had stared at each other, blue eyes blinking rapidly his way and rose red blossoming under the pale cheekbones as they stood frozen, words useless. Only Torbjörn's snickering had saved them, the conversation so much easier with the Strike Team beside them. It was easier to talk to even the Swede than Jack, which was plain ridiculous-

Ugh. If he could just figure out the goddamn chess game, all of this would be solved. Surely.

The problem laid in the way the pieces were set up. The pawns- they couldn't really be treated as pawns, at least not on Overwatch's side. Also, there had to be a caveat for pieces (people) getting hurt and taken out of commission, but with the ability to come back into the game, and also a caveat for new players to enter the game when necessary. If he could just _see_ it somehow-

No. Maybe that was the problem. Gabriel combed back his hair before letting the plastic comb drop to the bathroom counter with a soft 'clack'. Zenyatta had said that he focused too much on his vision.

…How the hell else did one play chess except by sight? Was he overthinking this? He knew who several of the key players were. He even knew the kings and queens on each side and how they would be positioned. But then how-

Wait. _Wait_. What if pawns…were related to the piece they were in front of? What if they signified a relationship, as their movement would affect openings for the pieces behind it? What if-

Oh shit. Oh shit! That was IT!

Gabriel phased back to his desk, re-arranging the pieces in full formation once more. So if this one was- then this was-

He needed to write this down. 

\--

_A day and half later_

…He hadn't come down for breakfast. Or lunch. Almost two days had gone by without contact. Were they just avoiding each other now?

Pulse munitions lay heavy in the air as a spent cartridge ejected, leather creaking as a gloved hand shoved a new one in, sights taking aim at the new training bots. With a blast of rockets at just the right moment, three went down all at once, the rest following as he picked them off one by one. Shooting targets was easier than confronting his emotional state by far. It didn't help that he found himself replaying that almost-kiss from across the chess board almost a week prior, hands locked over the white plastic knight. If he'd just leaned forward faster, if he'd not let Gabriel pull away, what would have happened? What if-

'Agent Morrison, would you like to conclude the session?' Athena asked kindly from above, voice echoing around the metal walls of the training center. 

Jack grimaced, heaving the rifle up onto one shoulder with a sigh. "Yeah. Shut it down." A distracted mind wasn't the best thing to have while shooting a loaded weapon on a training range used by other agents. With a wave to the camera above, the soldier trudged out, metal boots leading him back towards his room against his better judgement. Gabriel had been hiding away in his room almost every moment of the day, though it wasn't like him to miss out on meals. Something was up. He knew it. Ever since he'd pulled out the chess board, Gabe had been lost to it, near-obsessed with the thought of constructing some sort of strategy out of their old favorite past-time. 

…This wasn't his door. Swearing quietly, Jack marched away-

-and marched right back, hand poised above the metal.

Damnit Gabe.

The revelations from the Talon medical files Gabriel had shown him still lingered at the back of his mind like an earworm, a lone emergency siren that rattled on over and over again. Knowing why the attack in Zurich had happened didn't make it much easier to stomach, especially when it was clear that his friend hadn't been in control of his own actions. Knowing that Gabriel had essentially been living without a good portion of his memories, locked away by technology under his skin, made it that much worse. Jack couldn't fathom what Gabriel had been through. Was Gabe trapped in his mind even now? 

…Not on his watch. The raised fist pounded twice on the door. "Reyes! You in there?"

Silence.

Jack huffed, leaning forward to knock again- when the door slid open. "Wha-" Fingers curled in the front of his scuffed jacket and yanked him forward and inside. "HEY-"

"Perfect timing." Red-rimmed red eyes with bags loaded as if ready for travel underneath stared almost manically at the soldier, pulling him further into the room even as Gabriel shoved the door shut again. He'd been writing notes for hours, moving pieces to and fro as if caught in a loop, but the breakthrough he'd needed was right within grasp. "I need a rubber ducky. You game?"

Gabriel was a mess. Had he slept in those clothes or was he just- "Where have you been-" What? Jack blinked. Rubber ducky? …Oh. The programmer's reference? "You need someone to bounce an idea off of?"

"Busy. Look, I would have told you earlier but I had to figure out the Los Muertos problem-"

The _what_?! Jack stared. "How long has it been since you slept?"

Something in the tone stopped Gabriel in his movement towards the desk, the wraith rounding back on Jack with a hint of pleading laced under the obvious sleep deprivation. "Jack-"

"How long has it been since you've left this room?"

"Jack DAMNIT- this is important!" An exasperated growl was punctuated with a stabbing finger towards the chessboard.

"…" Jack took a step back and crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. Time to put his foot down. "You're going to air out this room and I'm going to get you some food. Then I'll listen. Deal?"

Air out the room? Gabriel paused and sniffed the air, the remnants of his nose wrinkling. Shit. One day of planning and it was already that stale-? Shit, he hadn't even been paying attention. Speaking of things that stunk, though, the man across from him reeked of pulse munitions. Shooting range perhaps? A more recent memory rose up of Jack smelling that way before, a cafeteria hug that he hadn't quite been able to fully enjoy due to the treachery of his own brain-  
"Yeah. Okay." He grumbled, his own arms crossing and expression near-pouty. 

"Deal."

\--

One open window, a large Gatorade, a bag of Fritos, and a discarded leather jacket and metal boots later saw Jack sitting cross-legged on the end of Gabriel's bed. The notes scattered about him on the desk and the floor made little sense, but what little he pulled from the scraps sent chills down his spine. Hints of the Talon high council, multiple lines of corruption between businesses-

"You ready?" Gabriel downed the rest of the Gatorade and 'thunked' the plastic bottle on the top of the desk, near-vibrating. 

"As I'll ever be." Jack let his field of vision center in on the chess board in an attempt to ward off memories of the almost-kiss. "Show me."

Despite the obvious excitement, the now-empty board was pushed forward with an almost-delicate touch, scraping softly against the top of the desk. "This is the battleground, both physically and mentally. Here's the key: not all battle can be won with fists and guns. We both know that, but it'll be just as important going forward as it's ever been."

Psychological warfare? Or something else-? Jack puzzled over the meaning silently.

"You would think that the most important parts of the game are the kings and queens on each side. That's where I was stuck. But it's not the individual pieces that make the game- it's the relationships _between_ the pieces."

What?

"Here. I'll show you." Gabriel pulled out the red king and set it. "D1, red king, red square. Identity?"

Jack scoffed. "Doomfist."

"Nope."

…What. Jack forced himself to think back through his own research. Nothing had pointed to a leader beyond Doomfist. Was that a trick as well? "…Enlighten me."

"You have to remember, Jack, that the lynchpin in any criminal organization is its support, financial and otherwise." The red king glittered in the low light of the room. "How is it that Talon has been able to remain under the radar for so long, despite international attention?"

"Its support has to have ties on a global scale. What, are you saying the U.N. is responsible for Talon?" Jack scoffed, only to freeze as Gabe shrugged.

"Not entirely."

"What the hell do you mean, _not entirely_?!"

"There's a sub-group named the 'U.N. Special Ops Committee'. It's the U.N.'s answer to Blackwatch."

What the fuck?! Since when had that existed? "And it's the king?"

"Only due to its association with the queen." There came the red queen, twirled between Gabriel's fingers. "A specific member of the U.N. asked for funds to be set aside for the committee and happens to be the chairman of said committee. Bet you can guess who that is?"

It clicked. Oh god, it clicked and it hurt. Jack hissed in a breath, his ribs burning with the intake. "Petras."

The red queen was set at E1. "Petras."

"Shit."

"Yeah. It gets worse though."

"You don't say." Jack replied dryly, hunching over the board in both trepidation and interest as his head reeled from the revelations.

"The Talon High Council is comprised of the heads of several well-known corporations, all of whom have interest in Talon's dealings. I've left a few of the small fry out, as they wouldn't be ones to try to fill the void should the leadership be taken out. Here's what I'm seeing." Gabriel pulled out the baggy of red pieces and began setting them. "A1, rook, is the head of the Null Sector forces. Still haven't gotten their name, but they're clearly leading the effort. A2, pawn, is set for the Null Sector Forces."

"Wait- you've set a _pawn_ as the entirety of the Null Sector? That doesn't seem right." Eyes flicked up to the red knight in Gabriel's hand.

"It all has to do with the rules of the game- damnit, I'll show you once everything is set, all right?"

"…Fine." There had to be a method to it, after all.

"Okay. Next is B1, Knight, who is the head of Vishkar: Sanjay Korpal."

"That makes the pawn on B2 into Vishkar?"

Gabriel grinned. "Now you're catching on."

The Talon side finally began to fill in.  
A1, rook, Head of Null Sector.  
A2, pawn, Null Sector Forces.  
B1, knight, head of Vishkar: Sanjay Korpal.  
B2, pawn, Vishkar.  
C1, bishop, Maximillien.  
C2, pawn, Widowmaker.  
D1, King, U.N. Special Ops Committee.  
D2, pawn, Talon forces.  
E1, Queen, Bill Petras.  
E2, pawn, Sombra.  
F1, bishop, Moira O'Deorain.  
F2, pawn, Sigma.  
G1, knight, the head of LumeriCo: Guillermo Portero.  
G2, pawn, LumeriCo.  
H1, rook, Doomfist. 

But when the last pawn was in hand, the piece hesitated to be placed. "Gabe?"

"…This used to be me." Came the soft voice, strained even in the quiet. "I don't know who's filled it yet but I'm assuming it's another of the Talon forces that Doomfist is training up."

Jack reached for the piece and set it on the board himself, hand returning to slip into Gabriel's and squeeze comfortingly at the palm in his. "Hey. You with me?"

…Gabriel swallowed. Keep moving forward. "Yeah." Fingers squeezed back. Shit. Leave it to Jack to pull him back out of his own head. "Let's take a look at Overwatch." This one had been much harder. One-handed, he began pulling out pieces. "The King at D8 is Winston. However, it's also something much broader."

Broader? "Like what?"

"Hope." The king clicked into place. "Winston represents hope."

…Shit. The sentimental part of Jack attempted to roar up but he shoved it back down. "That would make the queen Tracer?"

"Exactly." Gabriel started placing the pieces much more at random than the Talon side. "I knew the rooks had to be Reinhardt and Torbjörn. With Mercy and Genji on bishops, that left the knights. That's us."

"We're knights?" Jack couldn't help the wry smile that attempted to perk up. "Why, that's positively medieval."

"Dork." Gabriel pulled his hand back and swatted at him. "It's important to note here that the pawns are only in front due to their relationship to those they're behind and next to, not due to a lack of importance."

A8, rook, Reinhardt.  
A7, pawn, Brigitte.  
B8, knight, Soldier 76 (Jack).  
B7, pawn, Shrike (Ana).  
C8, bishop, Mercy (Angela).  
C7, pawn, Lucio Correia dos Santos.

"Wait," Jack blinked. "Who is Lucio?"

"Professional musician who led the Brazilian revolution against Vishkar in Rio. He's apparently a helluva medic, from what I hear. Still on mission with the environmental scientist, I believe."

"Right- right." Of course. He'd heard some of Lucio's tracks while in Dorado, the music soothing even when faintly tinkling outside closed bars.

D8, King, Winston (hope).  
D7, pawn, Mei-Ling Zhou.

"That's the scientist, yeah?"

"Mmhm. Figured it would be best to put a scientist with the scientist." Gabriel nudged Winston's king piece. "Plus, she can build a mean ice wall if her battle footage is to be believed. I knew we'd need a shield in front of the king, just in case."

"Seems reasonable."

E8, Queen, Tracer.  
E7, pawn, Echo.  
F8, bishop, Genji.  
F7, pawn, Zenyatta.  
G8, knight, Reaper (Gabriel).  
G7, pawn-

Again, hesitation stopped the piece above the board. "I don't know if I can convince him to come back." The reluctant explanation didn't give much to go one, and yet Jack suddenly knew exactly who Gabriel was referring to. "I'm willing to give it a shot though."

G7, pawn, Jesse McCree.

"I think if he knew you were alive and why Blackwatch went down the way it did, he might consider it." Jack pressed down on Gabriel's hand, the pawn's bottom edge finally hitting the board. "Keep it for now."

Swallowing the knot in his throat, Gabe nodded.

H8, rook, Torbjörn.  
H7, pawn, Bastion unit.

The full chess set stood before them in all its plastic and carboard glory. Jack realized after a moment that he had leaned almost entirely over the Talon side, the board rattling slightly as he jerked back. Damn. He was starting to join Gabriel down the rabbit hole.

"Okay. The rules?"

"Players can be resurrected but must re-enter from their original starting place on the board. New players can enter but must take the place of a resurrected character whereupon they either share that player or the new player takes over. Also, a pawn may become a queen if enough resources are diverted to it."

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Any pawn?

"Think of it like Ana's adrenaline boost. One shot makes that player a Queen, able to move in any direction they choose. But only one piece per side can do that at a time and they remain the Queen until they're taken out. It can also only happen once the original Queen is gone. So…say for instance that the Null Sector Forces is protecting its rook and Vishkar. You could, say, _divert resources_ into making them a huge battle force to be reckoned with. But Talon doesn't have the capacity to boost both the Null Sector and their own forces. They have to choose."

…Shit. This was a lot to take in. Jack leaned back further in an attempt to take it in. "…How do we win?"

"I've run a few battle simulations. It appears the key is to take out Petras first, which should be relatively easy given the size of his ego." Gabriel snorted.

"Kill Petras?" Not that he didn't want to, but-

"Kill? No. Wrap up in legal paperwork that gets him locked in a cell for as long as it takes for us to take the rest of Talon down-? Yeah." The grin on Gabriel's face grew. "It'll be all the more sweet when he realizes what's happening. The rest of Talon will go down without him able to do jack shit to help them."

"He's the queen though. That opens up Talon to being able to strengthen one of its pawns, right?" Slowly, Jack was getting the hang of it.

"Right, but remember: it's all about relationships. With Petras down, the U.N. Special Ops Committee won't have a direct link to Talon anymore. That will mean that someone else will step up to fill that leadership void."

"…Doomfist." Jack realized.

"Doomfist. And what does Doomfist like?"

"Power, unstoppable force and will, and the ability to evolve through conflict."

"Chaos." Gabriel motioned to the board. "But his side is made up of heavy-hitting organizations incapable of chaos. They have to stick to the rules or get their cover blown wide-open. Whereas, a group of individuals, such as those that make up Overwatch _right now_ , have a better chance at combatting that raw chaos with chaos of our own."

"And then?"

"We lure out the corporations one by one with bait that links to each. Echo will lure out Sombra. Lucio lures out Viskar. As we lure them out, we take the opportunity to take out their heads. With Korpal and Portero gone, their corporations will fall easily. Then, we take out the rest of the players one by one and corner the king." 

The smile on Gabriel's face found its way to Jack's. "Back rank mate. You sly dog."

"Mm." Gabe's grin shifted from mischievous to shit-eating. "That's how we beat them at their own game, Jack. They'll never see us coming."

…Something picked at the back of Jack's mind. "Los Muertos?"

"Small fry. They get their ammunition and riflery from Talon. Without the supply chain, they have nothing but what's already in stock. They'll be taken care of in the clean-up effort afterwards."

"Trapping the U.N. committee-"

"-will be literally a matter of us throwing the book at them. They're neck-deep in all the shit they accused Blackwatch of and worse- the evidence is ripe for the taking."

"And the God AIs-?"

Gabriel froze. "God AIs?"

"You mentioned them last time. Command and control protocol?"

…Shit. Right. "I…haven't figured out how they fit into all this yet." Shit shit shit.

"Gabe." Jack pushed himself to the edge of the bed, socked feet meeting the floor, and reached for one of his friend's shoulders. "This is more than enough. We can figure out the rest later, okay?" Sure, the God AIs were worrisome but so long as they stayed contained, they'd be under control. If they could implement the chess game strategy into real life, they had a real chance at winning this. They had a way to WIN. The thought sent shockwaves through Jack's system as it set in. "…How the hell did you come up with all this?"

"Staring at a chessboard for a few dozen hours at a time." Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly lying. Still, the thought of the Iris's words about the AIs not necessarily being in control pulled at him. There was something else there that he hadn't considered, something important. What was it? Damnit, what was it?

"Gabe. _Gabe_."

"Mm?" Had to figure out what was behind those words-

"Gabe."

Calloused but gentle fingers turned his chin, Gabriel pulled out of his spiraling thoughts at the warmth of the touch and reluctantly made eye contact. "Hi. What?"

"Get some sleep. You up for telling the rest of the team about this later?"

Agh, fuck. Right. "You think it's up to par, rubber ducky?" Maybe he could joke his way out of this one.

"I'll give it my rubber ducky seal of approval." Jack snickered, thumb smoothing up Gabriel's half-trimmed goatee. "Seriously, I can't believe you got all that from a chess game." His voice dropped, eyes flicking back to the two white knights that represented the two of them. "…Do you think we can win?" Sure, they could. But would they-?

"Yeah." They had a damn good fighting chance, especially if they were able to take down Petras early. Gabriel leaned into Jack's touch for a moment (warmmmm) before forcing himself to move back. He'd promised himself to take this slow, whatever this…thing was between himself and Jack. It sure was hard to honor that promise right now, but he'd do what he had to. "I do."

"Then that's good enough for me." Easing back up, Jack stretched, trying to keep the disappointment from his face at the distance between them once more, and stole another incredulous look at the chess board. "I can't wait to see everyone's faces when you show them all of this."

"Ha." Winston would probably be all over it, but he'd be one of the few. Gabriel reluctantly eased himself up, wincing as his back cracked. Okay, maybe some sleep wasn't a terrible idea. "Yeah."

"You're a zombie. Go to sleep, zombie." Jack teased, playfully punching one shoulder.

"Fine fine. But hey," Gabriel barely held in a yawn. "Thanks." All the ideas had been fleshed out but finally hearing them out loud was more useful than anything else he'd run across.

"Any time." Jack started to move in- then stopped. An awkward shoulder pat ensued before metal boots and jacket were slipped back on and included in the half-assed retreat that Jack clearly did not want to take. "I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?"

"Yeah." The door slid shut, the wraith wincing a bit. It still felt so odd between them at times. But at least Jack didn't think his chess theory was crap. That was a plus. Now, he just had to figure out a way to convince everyone else that it was a solid strategy, somehow convince McCree that things wouldn't get fucked up again, and figure out how the God AIs fit into everything. Damn, the AIs. Gabriel flopped back onto his bed, fully clothed and near-asleep already, but the question lingered on the edge of his mind. They were all connected somehow. _Somehow_. How the hell was he going to find that connection?

…Wait. Maybe he didn't have to.

_Sombra._


	2. Gods Among Us

Sleep was impossible. All he could concentrate on was the thought of what might be missing, of what more there was that could affect his plans. A half hour in, Gabriel gave up and sat up, wincing as the cybernetic ridges of his spine stung with renewed nanobot activity. It made sense to not sleep yet in some respects, he tried to justify while reaching for his comm. The time difference between Gibraltar and Dorado was about seven hours…and Sombra hated early morning phone calls. Just one call and he'd sleep. One call.

A crackling fizzle rang through the line. Then-

"Where the hell have you been?!" The angry voice near-shouted down the line. "Did I not say 'stay in touch'?! Damn it, Gabe."

Oh. Shit. That's right- they hadn't talked since she'd sent over the medical file. What had that been…a week and a half ago? Gabriel cringed, but tried to play it off. "Me extrañaste?"

_"Miss you?"_ Sombra threw up her hands, leaning back in her seat with an exasperated huff. "I drop the revelations of the century on you and you want to know if I missed you?!" This man-! "I-"

"Sorry."

The line went silent. Only a soft beeping from the other side, clearly from one of Sombra's many pieces of tech, betrayed that she was still there.

Gabriel swallowed. "A lot has happened since we last talked. You got time?"

"…I don't think I've ever heard you apologize before." Sombra finally quietly replied in disbelief.

"Don't get used to it." He grumbled, though there was no heat to it.

"Spoilsport." Genuine relief jumpstarted Sombra's system, the cybernetics along her scalp brightening momentarily. "Don't make me worry like that again. It's not good for my health, you know."

Gabriel scoffed, leaning back enough to put his feet on the desk and cross his legs, the Gibraltar sun casting golden rays over the elevated lower half of his body as the light began to fade into sunset. "Right. You game or-?

"This had better be good."

\--

The moon was directly above Castillo's walls by the time Reaper had finished his story, the back of her eyes beginning to hurt from researching it all and comparing his tale with what she could find on the web. "I mean, it sounds like it could work. Boy, when you say you've been busy, you really mean it." From the inhibitor chip to the chess game, it was a hell of a lot to take in. "No wonder you sound so different."

"Yeah. Getting that tech pulled out did a number on my head. Clouds are finally gone." Gabe swiped another gutter article away and started looking for another on possible God AI sources that didn't have to do with the first Omnic Crisis. Why was this so difficult?

"Funny you mention the Iris actually…you tried talking to her since all of this went down?"

"A few times. Nothing yet." It had been absolute radio silence to the point that Gabriel almost hoped it stayed that way.

The most astonishing thing of all was that Gabriel was telling her all of this. The plan to take down Talon, his newly-declared allegiance to Overwatch… "Geez Gabe." Sombra teased, a smile failing to appear on her face. "It's almost like you trust me or something."

What? "You're kidding." Gabe scoffed. "Of course I trust you." Perhaps it was a dumb thing to do but with everything she'd done, from preserving his secret identity from Talon to keeping his resurrection from them, pulling his medical file, helping him to see that Jack wasn't a threat but an ally…. He really did trust her. 

There was a concha stuck in Sombra's throat, clearly. She struggled to swallow the lump of the non-existent pastry. "Turning into a good guy has made you an idiot."

"Won't deny that." It certainly was making him take risks he never would have considered before.

God, he even sounded sincere about it too. The chair twirled once, helping her swallow and regain her bearings, feet pressing into the floor as soon as she was facing the screens again. "So what's the next step?"

"Echo is going to reveal herself. I need you to appear…interested in her. Enough so that you'd potentially drop other projects."

_The_ Echo from Liao's laboratories? "Won't have to fake that." Sombra didn’t even try to hide her interest. "Yeah, that's easy enough. What then?"

"…Everything works. Except…" Teeth gritted. "I have reason to believe that the God AIs from the first crisis were all being controlled by another source. If Talon could get their hands on that source, there's no way to account for that on the board." Plus, if the command and control protocol was used to hijack into satellites like in the first Crisis, it would be almost impossible to hide their movements. There had to be some key to this he was missing.

She couldn’t help it. Sombra threw her head and laughed, fingernails digging into her sides as she cackled.

"…The fuck, Sombra." Gabriel deadpanned.

"Do you- do you know how long I've waited to be able to talk to someone about this? No, of course you wouldn't-" she wheezed and muttered. "You wouldn't know-"

"Tell me."

"It would be my pleasure."

His tablet dinged merrily. Gabriel tapped curiously at the new file and felt his eyes grow wide as the interconnected chart expanded across the entire screen. "What _is_ this?"

"I've been digging for years. _Years._ " Sombra whispered, still holding her sides but now as an attempt to keep herself together. "Everything is connected."

A little set of hexagons appeared on the right that caught his attention, Gabriel realizing that he was looking at himself, Jack, and Ana alongside their identities as Reaper, Soldier 76, and the Shrike. But the piece at the middle mystified him most of all, the symbol of an eye with three dots below and above sitting central to the entire map. Wait- an eye? "It that-" could it be? "-the Iris?"

"It is." Sombra laughed again, the sound carrying no humor this time. "And it isn't."

What? "Explain."

"The Iris appeared right after the first Omnic Crisis ended. But it also has ties to the Crisis itself. Look, okay." The chair snapped upright. "We gotta go back first. Rialto- you remember the statue they have there?"

What did a statue have to do with anything? "Yeah. It was one of the Greek goddesses, right?"

"Mmhm. Which one?"

"How the fuck should I know?"

"Gaaaaaabe-"

"Just tell me, damnit."

"It's Hera."

Hera. Okay, she was the…queen, right? The one with Zeus that had gotten mad because Zeus was always cheating on her? …What a weird fucking statue to put in Rialto. He'd never thought of how odd it was before. "Okay. What does that mean?" Gabriel asked slowly, trying to piece it together.

"Thing is…it's not there because it's Hera. It's there because it's the best representation for Juno that they could find."

Juno? Who the hell-

"Every Grecian god has an equivalent name in Roman mythology. Hera's is Juno. More specifically, Juno Lucina."

_Lucina_? That was a name he'd never heard before. "And this has to do with the God AIs how-?"

"From what I've been able to find in all of my research, Lucina was the original God AI that came out of the Omnica Corporation fiasco."

Oh _SHIT._ But if she was the original, then that meant- "She built the other God programs?"

"The queen of the God AIs."

_Oh shit!_ She'd been the one behind them all! Lucina had to be the one the Iris was referring to.

"But it gets better. Happen to remember the name of the God AI in Egypt?"

Pff, of course. "Anubis." Ana and her original team had managed to take the omnium out of commission before joining the Strike Team, though they'd had to go back just before the end of the war when Anubis had jumpstarted itself out of submission without warning. To this day, he still didn't know how it had managed to re-route itself.

"Originally, Lucina appeared to make four God AIs, who, in turn, made more. Anubis was definitely one of those four. For a long time, I was stuck there." Sombra sent off another file to Gabe's device, this time pointing out a specific symbol to the left. "Remember that mission we had to Volskaya?"

"The one where you played alliances instead of sticking to the mission? Yeah, I remember it." Gabriel snorted. Now that he could think clearly, he knew that Sombra had done the right thing by sparing the head of the corporation. At the time though, he'd been livid.

"While in Katya's office, I got my hands into her tech and THIS symbol popped up." The new icon appeared to be a large diamond/square shape with a corresponding square within. "It always struck me as funny that no one ever knew the name of the God AI that Russia was always fighting against, right? But when I started digging deeper beyond the symbol, a name popped up."

The name of the Russian God AI? Gabriel leaned forward in his seat.

"Ever watch Fantasia and see that crazy demon guy with the cool music and the demon armies? Yeah, his name is apparently Chernobog." A short video file of the Disney short was sent along. "Guess what name I came across?"

_Chernobog._ A quick search told him everything he needed to know. "God of death, misfortune, bad luck, darkness, destruction? Yeah, that sounds about right." The clip began to play, a winged demon unfurling from a mountaintop as music rose in the background.

"Now this is where it gets fun. Chernobog can be spelled a few different ways, yeah? Chernevog, Czernobog, Zcerneboch…but it can also be spelled Tchernobog with a T. Know what's interesting about that?"

The little movie was distracting him. Gabriel paused it to watch later while trying to puzzle out what Sombra was getting at. "…No."

An audible pout was heard over the line. "You're no fun. Okay, look at this."

Three names popped up on his screen. Lucina, Anubis, Tchernobog. What did this have to do with _oh holy fuck._ Tchenobog, Anubis, Lucina. T. A. L. "No."

"You see it too?"

"It's fucking spelling out Talon. That can't be right."

"It gets better."

"Fuck."

"I found the other two God AIs." Sombra sent two more links. "Ōmeteōtl, Aztec god of abundance. Nak, Serpent God of Ryujin, the lord of seas and snakes."

"Fuck!" FUCK. Head reeling, Gabriel leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees, heads keeping his forehead from hitting the floor. Aztec- that meant it had to be in somewhere in the Americas. Nak- Ryujin?- was in the sea? WAIT- "Was Nak the one responsible for the attacks off Busan?"

"Bingo. Yeah, it seems like Nak heads up the Gwishin forces."

How was he going to figure out a way around all of this? There had to be some sort of way, right? "If Talon is named after the God AIs-" he puzzled it together aloud. "Then that must mean they're connected."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, yeah. It all goes back to Lucina." Sombra twirled again, eyes closing to stop the blur of the room from reaching more than her inner ears. "From what I can pull together, shortly after Lucina woke up and created the other four AIs, the beginnings of what would become Talon got their hands in her."

"Probably Petras or a predecessor. The U.N. shut down the Omnica Corporation after all the malfunctions started, so if they found out that Lucina started those and they found a way to get into her-"

"The omniums were weaponized and turned back on humanity like a loaded gun. Boom."

Gabriel's breath shuddered in his chest. The first crisis had ended when they'd shut down all of the known omniums, to their knowledge. Did that mean that more were out there? It had always been theorized that there were mobile omniums that could be transported either by air or below the surface of the oceans, but none were ever found beyond a prototype miniature of an aerial warehouse. Then again, the omnics had gotten into Gothenburg almost too easily, especially with Torbörn on watch. Could that have been an extension of the mobile units?

"Thing is, Lucina disappeared after the Crisis ended. But guess who took her place?"

Took her place? What- no.

"Remember how I said the Iris showed up after the war?"

"…The Iris isn't Lucina."

"Definitely not. But there are a lot of similarities to consider." Sombra hummed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Iris could be considered a suitable replacement for Lucina, if nothing else."

Replacement? "You mean…if Talon could get their hands into her like they did into Lucina, they'd corrupt her systems and start a full second Crisis." Talk about a worst-case scenario.

"They think it's a second Crisis now. No, this- see, not all omnics agree with Null Sector. But the Iris connects _all_ the omnics. So if they could get into the Iris-"

"-They could have an internationally-spread army to use whenever they please." Gabriel breathed, heart thudding so loud he could feel it against the underside of his ribs. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Which brings us to the main problem of the night, really. Unlike before, the Iris DOES have a link to a human being. You."

If Talon got their hands back on him, they could dig into his connection to the Iris and exploit it. Gabriel's lungs froze. He'd never considered that the link might go both ways, connecting the Iris to him as much as it connected him to the Iris. "I've barely heard her, Sombra." It couldn't be that strong. Surely, there'd be a way to shut it down.

"I bet it has to do with your nanites. She can probably contact you through them, yeah? That would make sense. Robots are robots."

Electronic communication that healed and destroyed him from within while potentially having a way to link to the most powerful God AI in the world. "Any omnic would also have a connection-"

"Not like this. I've rarely heard of omnics talking to the Iris. Maybe that Mondatta guy-"

Or Zenyatta-! Gabriel resolved to speak to him in person at the earliest opportunity.

"-but even then, it sounds like she reached out to you even without the direct contact earlier?"

"Yeah- through the comm." He was infinitely glad he'd decided to come clean and give Sombra the whole story. All of the dots were being connected now- wait a second. Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "…Does having nanites mean that you can hack me?"

"Pfff!" Sombra's grin was evident even from afar. "…Maybe?"

"Have you hacked me before?"

"I can't give you _all_ my secrets, Gabe."

"…Shit. What did you make me do?" Goddamnit, Sombra. Probably something stupid for her to blackmail him with later if he knew her like he thought he did.

"…I might have hacked into your internal blueprints so I could make a marionette of you to scale?"

A WHAT? "Pff-?!" Gabriel tried to keep a straight face and failed. "You're the worst." A marionette? "Send me pictures."

"¿Es en serio?" There was a long pause followed by snickers. "I like this new you, Gabe. You're way more fun without the whole dark and gloomy thing going on."

"Heh." A series of photos and videos popped up on his datapad. He'd definitely be checking those later-

Later. Oh no.

"Sombra. That bug we planted in the Overwatch database- is there any way to remove it?" He'd completely forgotten about it until now. Had that really been two weeks ago? Longer-? It felt like months ago now.

Sombra winced. "Ah- yeah? But you'd have to find the original files I gave you and delete them from the system. Good luck doing that without somebody finding out."

"You don't have a scrubber I could use or-"

"Nope. Gotta find all copies of those originals, Gabe. Any copies left anywhere in the system could still potentially send out data."

Shiiiit. "All right. I'll work on it." Damn. Talk about a lot to digest. There were still so many questions he wanted to ask, but…his brain felt fucking full. Gabriel managed a snort. "I think we managed to cover everything."

"You think?!" Sombra threw her hands up. "Te pasas de lanza. Even **I'm** tired and it's not even three o'clock yet." 

"Let's check back in a few days from now. You and Echo will have made the move by then so…it should be an ideal time to touch base." As expected, Sombra had all the answers he'd been looking for. Talon being an acronym for God AIs had been the last thing he'd expected, but sure enough…all the evidence pointed towards it. Goddamn appropriating terrorists. "You're a genius, Sombra. I owe you. Again."

The compliment sent a smile running up from toes to lips, the hacker preening. "Eh, I've got a fellow rabbit hole partner. That's more than enough to satisfy me. You know how long I've been waiting to tell someone about this? Totally worth it."

"If you say so." Without getting intel right from the Iris herself, Gabriel couldn't think of any way he possibly could have come up with all the data Sombra had compiled and puzzled out. "I'm going to keep the God AI theories between us for now. Don't want to completely blow Overwatch's collective minds just yet."

"Fine by me. Hey-" Purple bounced about the room once more, reflecting off desks and even onto a small bed in the corner of the Castillo hide-out, specks of color ruffling the faded fur of a teddy bear tucked close to a pillow. "It's good to hear your voice. Stay in touch this time or I'll kick your ass."

"You'll be first in line, I promise."

"Buenas noches, Gabe."

\--

Sleep came easier than expected. The morning sunlight and the smell of stale corn chips woke him, disgruntled mouth twisting along with his empty stomach. Ugh. Needed to have something to eat before he accidentally reaped someone. 

Gabriel shoved himself out of bed and forced himself through his morning routine again, two days too late and much-needed. His eyelids still felt glued to his face even after a shower and a shave, but surely a cup of coffee would fix that. A pair of old jeans and a hoodie from the footlocker solved his dirty laundry problems, metal-booted feet trudging towards the cafeteria as he attempted to sort everything out in his head.

The God AIs had come before Talon, but Talon had somehow gotten their hands on at least some of them and managed to sway the war in their favor (as well as steal their names). Apparently, they were hoping to do so again…perhaps with the Iris as their key into the Omnics of the world. It explained the weird coded parts of some of the high council meetings, some parts of the conversation always seeming like it went right over his head. Gabriel grimaced. There was a lot to consider and a lot of risk in moving forward. Talon's downfall was worth it though.

"Athena, check the calendar. I need a meeting with all available Overwatch staff." Gabriel raised his voice just loud enough to be heard while walking the partially paved path outside to the cafeteria.

_'There appears to be time just after lunch today. All of our current agents have returned to base as of early this morning so they should all be available.'_

"Schedule it in. Make it mandatory if I still have those privileges."

_'I believe I can make an exception just this once if you believe it's that important, Commander._ Athena's voice teased.

Commander. For the first time since Zurich, it was a title Gabriel felt like he might be able to honor again. "It's _that_ important." He teased back, finally finding his way inside and into the kitchen, hands fumbling with the coffee-maker. Suddenly, without his finding the button, the caffeinated beans began to brew. Gabriel aimed a half-asleep smile up at the ceiling. "Thanks."

_'Any time, Commander.'_

\--

The fresh faces were less unfamiliar than expected. There was shared trauma in the bright eyes, young faces not able to hide the determination in each one of them. Lúcio and Mei, though clearly tired, were all in with the plan they'd only heard moments before.

"It's crazy but I really like it! Super out of the box." The Brazilian grinned up from his reclined spot on the ground. "I can't wait to take down Vishkar and Talon once and for all."

Mei nodded, strands of hair escaping her face to duck across her forehead. "The damage they've created is so terrible. If there is a way for us to bring it to an end, we should take it."

"It's bold but risky." Winston grimaced, adjusting his glasses. "There are bound to be casualties if we're not very, very careful."

"Either way, there will be casualties." Gabriel admitted honestly, arms folding across his chest. "But that was going to happen whether we go with this or not." He didn't like the idea of Gibraltar getting stormed at some unknown point in the future, but perhaps this strategy would distract the U.N. and Talon enough to keep them from enacting it. "We'll need multiple medics on hand to mitigate the damage. Don't suppose you have any friends in the field that might be interested in helping out, Dr. Ziegler? Zenyatta?" It was worth asking.

"One or two. I'm not fond of asking many of my colleagues to step into battle. But if we could do this much good, take down all of these people at once…" Angela shook her head. "It would be worth it." She still was having trouble believing the U.N. would allow the formation of such a clearly-corrupt committee and that Petras, of all people, was behind it. If she hadn't seen Director Petras's name on the Talon tax returns weeks earlier, the whole concept would have been unthinkable.

"I do not believe that any of my fellow Shambali might join us here. However, there are other allies that we may be able to call upon in our time of need." Zenyatta looked to Lúcio, who smiled right back. "Friends in Numbani, perhaps?"

"It's worth a shot." Gabriel's gut twisted as Jack spoke, the rest of the room turning to look his way. "All we've ever needed is a shot. It's about time we take one."

Murmurs of agreement littered the walls, Gabriel's eyes connecting with Jack's from across the room as everyone continued to talk it over. Jack had always backed his decisions, even the bad ones, when they'd worked together in Overwatch before. Silently, Gabe resolved to not let him down this time. He _would_ make this work and they _would_ take down Talon, one way or another.

"So then-" Winston finally spoke up once more, nodding once to show his approval. "How do we get the ball, er…rolling?"

"We show our hand, draw them out, and take them down when they aren't expecting it." Here went nothing. Gabriel turned to Echo. "The next time Null Sector shows up, you'll need to be front and center. You ready for this?"

A blue laugh of joy flickered across the holoscreen. "I'm ready." She had been ready to help the world for so long.

\--

Rio de Janeiro still burned from the after-effects of the Null Sector attack nearly a month prior. Lúcio's and Mei's effort to clean up the city had helped but could not fully stem the damage the citizens fought to recover from. Therefore, when another wave of omnics flooded the streets, their warship growling in the airspace above, there was little the city's residents could do but hide in the rubble of buildings and hope for a miracle. Amazingly, one came sooner than expected, mere hours after the first Null Sector troop had set foot among the ruins.

Out of the blue of the sky came a streak of white, wings outstretched and blasts knocking omnics aside like toys. Several swore in later testimony that an angel had been sent down to help them, the figure unearthly especially as it dove into the ship itself, sending it diving off into the ocean after just a few moments of battle, and emerging as blue fire from the explosion. But those who had the chance to see her up close, those who were rescued from the debris by her and the Overwatch agents with her and defended with protective wings that curled close, knew the truth. An omnic had saved them. Her name, they told shocked journalists later, had been given as Echo.

Thousands of miles away, Sombra smiled. "Enemiga detectada."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> E7->E5  
> E2->E4
> 
> link to Sombra's map: https://i.imgur.com/0isJtYO.jpg


	3. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Metal exploded, falling from the sky as a hail of shrapnel spread, the furthest pieces stopping just short of the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Out of the remains of the Null Sector battleship, white rocketed forward- and was paused with the video, the screen zooming in to focus on blue features and outspread 'wings'.

"Null sector has failed once again to obtain Rio." Sanjay Korpal leaned forward, eyes narrowing, his uniform shadowed in the darkened meeting room. "What will it take to get this done? Vishkar needs that foothold."

"If Liao's toy hadn't been there, Null Sector would have the city currently in hand. The real question is," Doomfist leaned in, prosthetic arm leaning into the table as he glowered at the screen. "Where has this 'Echo' been hiding all this time?"

Silver fingers clicked gently together as they enfolded, Maximillien watching Akande with nearly-bored, crimson eyes. "It's not hard to hide an omnic. However, Echo was considered a valuable asset in the golden age of Overwatch. Perhaps she was discovered and reactivated by the group currently posing as the old organization?"

"My contacts suggest Echo may have been carried as cargo on the train that crashed some months ago along Deadlock's territory." Guillermo Portero sat back, features as solemn as his moustache, cigar smoke leaking lazily across his face. "The current head of Deadlock was nearly caught by authorities but escaped by the skin of her teeth. That, however, was the work of those who freed Echo, not Echo herself."

"Overwatch orchestrated a train heist for one of their old companions? Out of character, given its current head." Mismatched eyes nearly glowed across the table. "Winston does hate to get his hands dirty, poor thing. Always did take a rather…juvenile approach to science, despite his upbringing." Nails tapped against the table, Moira O'Deorain's smile crooking in both interest and disdain at Portero. "Unless you're suggesting this was, perhaps, someone from _other_ parts of Overwatch?"

"Does it matter?" Fighting to not put a dent in the table, Doomfist rose from his seat and turned to face the screen. "Overwatch cannot be allowed to return. The mismatched band of stragglers that infernal ape has pulled together could be squashed in but a moment should we move to strike-"

"No."

All eyes turned to the head of the table. Hazel eyes flickered green in the low light, face shadowed by a knobbled nose and brunette hair on the edge of shaggy, an odd boyish charm exuding from the otherwise wizened features. A three-piece suit hid a figure perfect for office work and yet…something was off that as well, a menace of muscles packed behind what should have been a perfect model for administrative efficiency. William Petras stared Akande down long enough that the Numbanian finally sat, pale lips quirking as he watched the muscle below the current Doomfist's eye twitch in annoyance. Oh, Akande wanted to hold all the cards so _badly_ , didn't he? Mmm…

"Overwatch was buried in Zurich, but it died a slow death through the media. This group at Watchpoint: Gibraltar needs a reminder of why Overwatch was forsaken in the first place. Once the soul and spirit are destroyed, there will be little reason for them to continue on." A white hand, graced by a smattering of wrinkles, motioned to the screenshot of Echo before them. "Sombra brought this intel to our attention. Let's give her something to do. A smear campaign, perhaps? Digging up some old dirt on Overwatch and throwing it to the newshounds should hamper them for a few days at least."

Moira's eyes rolled, though she made sure to do so while facing Maximillen to her other side. The trip from Oasis to Rialto had been to announce a smear campaign? Honestly. She had better things to do than sit in a dusty, dank dungeon of a meeting room lit like a medieval feast room from the Americas and fit with leather chairs that could swallow the largest of executives. 

"That will give us time to deal with the real problem at hand." Petras raised a remote, the shot of Echo replaced with another video of a factory swarming with Null Sector. It began to play, the milling of omnics interrupted with a mighty smash of shield to ground, a crusader rising up from the ground and quickly blocking the shots alongside another shield-wielding woman, a familiar angel-winged medic swooping in behind. Then, in tandem, a soldier landed with red visor blazing, a sniper in blue appeared as if out of nowhere, and a roiling mass of smoke streamed down from above, coelescing into a familiar figure in battle armor, hoodie, and beanie, shotguns roaring-

The air fled his lungs, leaving shards of glass in its wake. Doomfist's teeth ground menacingly, hand raising subconsciously to rest over his chest, the blackened scars healed under Moira's meticulous hands but remaining as throbbing reminders of betrayal. _"Reaper."_ He had survived!

"Reaper?" Portero squinted, then sat back in shock. "That is _not_ the Reaper. That is a _MUCH_ bigger problem." Back from the grave-?!

"That's Gabriel Reyes. That is-" Korpal hissed, suddenly making the connection. "Do you mean to tell me that Gabriel Reyes was- is- the Reaper and sat at this table among us?! None of you would be so dumb as to have the former Commander of Overwatch even become part of Talon, more or less a leader-?"

"We had him under control." Moira leaned forward. Finally, something of interest! The scarring across Gabriel's face seemed to be holding together enough for the man to go without a mask. Fascinating. "His previous memories were wiped following Zurich and he's proved to be a rather valuable asset."

Maximillien sputtered, static momentarily replacing words. "Clearly, whatever brainwashing was performed seems to have slipped away!"

"It shouldn't have. His medical charts didn't show anything out of the ordinary a month before the fight at Ilios. Clearly, an outside force must have somehow intervened." But what? Who? More research would be required. This- THIS- had been worth the trip, Moira silently decided. Reyes had always been a medical anomaly in so many ways, but this-? Quite a twist.

Doomfist narrowed in on the sight of Morrison and Amari fighting alongside Reyes. That traitor. That goddamn traitor!

"Echo's reveal seems less like a random decision and more of a strategic positioning." Petras motioned towards the video, which moved on to show the former Reaper and the soldier fighting back to back before the team disappeared from view. "It smells like a Reyes strategy through and through. He's given us bait that he expects us to take. I suggest that, for the time being, we play along."

"Reyes headed the most successful strategies behind the first Omnic Crisis." Portero pointed out, the Cuban cigar in hand quickly raised back up for a puff to steady himself. "Do we really want to play into what could be a disastrous end-game?"

"Physically, the man is nearly immortal. He is, in some respects, already dead." Petras gave a snort of a laugh. "But mentally, he's apparently regained at least part of the faculties that made him such an asset to Overwatch. Therefore, psychological warfare will be much more useful than a firefight."

With a press of a button, a new image began to float above the meeting room table. The poster read simply 'Wanted Dead or Alive' at the top, the caricature of a bearded man in a cowboy hat, cigarillo between his lips, looking confidently down as the poster began to slowly turn, the text 'Jesse McCree $60,000,000 Reward' underneath. Moira blinked, an eyebrow raising.

"Let's remind him," Petras smiled eerily, golden flecks within the green eyes glittering like beetles from the poster's light. "What he has left to lose."

\--

The recording ended, pausing on the image of the poster above the Talon table, and was met with a mix of stunned and panicked silence, broken only by the pacing of steps behind the command room's miniature audience. Winston, wide-eyed, looked to Jack Morrison, who was glaring a set of holes through William Petras's smug face. Genji's poker face was, as always, incredible…though the tightened fists at his sides spoke of much. 

Lena stood stock-still to Genji's right, frozen in place and shaking in both anger and fear, focused solely on the man in the poster. "Jesse-" her voice caught in her throat. They couldn't let Talon get to him. They couldn't!

From behind, the pacing steps stopped. Hesitantly, a scarred hand reached forward to land on Lena's shoulder, Gabriel squeezing once the touch wasn't rejected. After all the revelations that had come forward, from Lucina to the chess game, he hadn't expected the file containing the board room recording to show up on his comm. But, yet again, Sombra had come through- the date- and time-stamp couldn't be more than a few hours old. 

The first viewing had been…rough, to say the least. They'd seen right through him and, even without knowing the moves, the fact that Petras had picked up on it all so quickly spoke volumes. There was a reason the man had been the leader of Talon for as long as he had, Reyes had found himself admitting scathingly. The truth was that he'd been planning to put off contact with McCree for as long as he possibly could. But now…it couldn't wait.

Lena swallowed, reaching up to cover Reyes's hand with her own and send him a strained smile. "We're gonna get McCree back, right?"

Gabriel grimaced. If there was one thing he knew about Jesse McCree, it was that trying to force that cowboy into anything he didn't want to do was futile. "At the very least," he shot a look to Winston, who turned at the sound of his voice finally piping up. "He deserves a warning."

"You think he wouldn't answer his comm if we tried to tell him in a message?" The scientist reasoned, quickly pulling up what files he could of McCree's last known location. "Echo said that he received the recall notice-"

Jack's head shot up. What? "Echo saw McCree?"

Winston blinked, looking between the equally stunned faces. She hadn't told them? "Echo was freed by McCree shortly after the recall occurred. He got her off a downed train on Route 66."

…Of course he had. Gabriel's head shook, teeth gnawing at his bottom lip in aggravation. Of course McCree had found a way to save Echo in a way he hadn't been able to do for Mina Liao. Kid still had a heart of gold. "How long ago did she see him?"

"About a month and a half ago. Athena, help me plot the course of his comm pings, will you?"

 _'Certainly, Winston.'_ The screen lit up with several data points, beginning in New Mexico and heading west through Arizona along the abandoned Route 66 highway. It began to curl northward before straightening back towards California and-

"When was the last ping?" Gabriel breathed. McCree couldn't really be in-?

"A few weeks ago." It could be too late already. What if Talon had nabbed Jesse and were just waiting for the right moment to reveal their catch? Winston's fingers and toes locked together, the gorilla rocking slightly in dismay. 

"Los Angeles." His hometown. Goddamnit, McCree. "Hollywood."

"I guess he'd fit right in with the cowboy get-up." Lena chuckled, shoulder relaxing a bit. There was a chance he was okay. A chance was all they needed. "When do we go?"

Silence followed her words, heavy even with the Gibraltar sunshine peeking in through the windows. Blue eyes caught red ones, Jack and Gabriel exchanging a nod. "We need to keep this discreet." Jack spoke up, double-tapping on the Los Angeles icon before them and watching as the cityscape appeared before them. "Small team, in and out. No publicity."

"Which means…neither Lena nor I should go, I'm assuming." Winston sighed.

"What?!" Tracer moved away from the crew, shrugging of Reyes's hand in frustration. "We have to bring Jesse home! Why would we not go?"

"You're both known figures associated with Overwatch right now. Plus, neither of you know Los Angeles." Not like he did. Not like Jack did. Gabriel's gaze turned on the silent figure beside them. "Genji has had a few missions in that area." None of which had been particularly legal, but that was Blackwatch for you. "I'd suggest myself, Jack, and the ninja for the job."

"You haven't been cleared for missions yet." Winston reminded, looking more brave than he sounded.

"This isn't a mission. This is my right-hand man. I know Jesse McCree better than anyone and if he's going to listen to anyone, he'll listen to me." Unless McCree shot him in the face. Deserved, sure, but hopefully not as possible as Gabriel thought it might be.

Hands thrown up, Lena blurred out of the command center. They thought she wasn't stealthy enough to fit in? They didn't think she was up to the challenge? How was she less noticeable than Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, and a cyber ninja (nothing against Genji, it was just that- ugh!)? …Maybe a few sprints around the outside of the Gibraltar compound would help her burn off some steam.

Winston watched helplessly as Lena took off, shoulders drooping in dismay. "…If you went," he conceded. "You'd need to go in some sort of disguise. All three of you would need something to keep this all, er…low-key."

That made sense, as much as he disliked trying to come up with a costume in a few hours. Gabriel nodded.

"Done." Jack seconded.

"I'll come up with something." Genji finally spoke, faceplate glowing dimly. 

That was that. Sighing, Winston began charting a flight path to the States. "Good luck. And ah- tell Jesse hi for me, please?"

\--

Make-up was a bitch. The only up-side was that he had several hours to perfect it before they landed in Los Angeles. Staring in the smudgy mirror of the dropship bathroom, Gabriel rolled his eyes and threw the first bottle of concealer into the trashcan, the second pulled from a gig bag set on the countertop. Covering these damn scars took a helluva lot of work. A little eyeliner was nearly jostled as the dropship bumped midair, Gabe swearing loudly as he barely managed to keep the black from swiping up his cheek. Fucking hell-

Two hours and thirty-seven minutes after entering the bathroom, he finally emerged from the little bathroom feeling like a new person. Fake silver lip-piercing in place, smooth skin that finally all looked the same color, hazel contacts, fake cyberwear prosthetic along his neck, a pair of jeans, black sneakers with silver laces, and a two-toned, long-sleeved Metallica shirt rounded it out…and made him look like a senior citizen trying to relive forgone glory days. Fuck. But at least Gabriel looked less like himself than he had in ages. His salt-and-pepper hair should have been dyed, sure, but there was something about the greying color that threw off his look even more than a bright color would have, at least in his opinion. The lack of nose and most of both ears were not exactly great either; however, one prosthetic was enough. Perhaps…he needed a second opinion.

"Jack." Gabriel rounded the corner, stuffing the gig back into a set of safety netting before finding the other figure in the room. "What do you think- of my-"

Whaaaaa-

It was the most gaudy shirt he'd ever seen, some sort of fake-Hawaiian tourist-trap monstrosity in bright red. Sunglasses sat perched on the snowy-white head. Khaki shorts trailed down to _socks_ with _sandals_ and suddenly, Gabriel didn't feel so badly about his own choices of clothing.

"Are you- are you serious?" He choked out, torn halfway between nausea and hilarity. "You're not really wearing that."

"What? Of course I am. Do I look like myself?" Jack didn't even look up, too caught in whatever he'd found in his tablet. 

"Do you want me to actually answer that question?" Gabe snickered, padding over to get a closer look. To be completely honest, it was the most 'Jack' outfit he'd ever seen in his life. As much as he wanted to deny it, the weirdness of the get-up actually…looked good on Jack. The shorts and rolled sleeves showed off muscles rarely seen and the buttoned shirt was loose enough to conceal the leather holster underneath, but tight enough to show off the hardened form underneath. Gabriel swallowed, keeping his gaze on Jack's face instead. Not bad at all. Except the socks with sandals. Ugh.

Finally, blue eyes glanced up from the tablet with an eyebrow raised, ready with an intelligible response- that completely failed upon the sight of the man in front of him. Silver piercing, silver on black on silver on- _silver fox_ hot damn. "What-" Jack's voice squeaked higher than he'd ever heard it go before, eyes trailing up and down the new outfit appreciatively. "You-" GodDAMN. "This is-"

Well, that was new. Had Jack's voice always been able to go that high? Plus, he was turning a lovely shade of crimson that nearly matched his shirt. Gabriel reached forward and ruffled the pure white hair. "What? Too much?"

Dang it- not the hair! Swatting at the hand, Jack scowled. "You look like a cyber-punk grandpa." A damn good-looking one at that.

"Should be enough of a disguise for now." It was going to be hella hot in L.A. with the long sleeves and pants, but there was no way he had enough make-up to cover the splotches across his arms and legs too. Gabriel harrumphed and plopped himself into the seat next to Jack, peering over his shoulder at the tablet. "Find anything useful?"

If he could keep his mind from wandering, everything would be fine. Jack handed the device over, pointing out a few spots. "No definite sightings, but there's a con happening not far from the inner city he might be blending in with. A few clubs here have had events recently that might have offered shelter. At this point, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Maybe he should have asked Sombra to hack the surveillance systems- no. She was already being pulled between the two factions enough. If Talon caught her doing that and feeding the information to him, she'd be screwed. "There are fewer cameras over here. But he's good enough to get around even the most sophisticated security set-up- it's possible he's hiding in the inner city just to spite Talon. The sheer level of humanity would be quite the shield." They were huddling over the tablet. He knew that. But the warmth radiating off the spots where his leg and Jack's pressed together was like a blazing log cabin fireplace during a blizzard, their arms and shoulder leaned in enough to nearly- nope, they were touching now too.

How was Jack's mere presence so addictive? Gabriel had promised himself that he'd give space so he could figure out his head and himself before allowing himself to- to- whatever this was, but damnit it was just so nice to curl into that warmth. "Do you think he might be in-" his head turned and was met with a gaze inches from his own. If Gabe's nose had been intact, it would have surely been nudging the tip of Jack's at this point, breath hitching in the back of his throat as he stared the man down.

Oh god. Was this actually happening? Here? Now? Jack stared right back, eyes flitting down to the lips so close to his own. Lower lip sucked into his mouth, he held position for a moment more…then edged forward. Gabriel wasn't running. Neither of them were.

Heads tilted.

Breath exchanged.

The tapping of footsteps.

…Footsteps?

Millimeters from each other, they froze.

"Have either of you heard of Hal-Fred Glitchbot?" Genji's voice filtered from the cockpit, growing louder.

Gabe and Jack let out simultaneous exhales, eyes wide and forms shaking. Had they almost-? Had that been-

"Hello?"

The two soldiers leaned back from each other, filled with realization and frustration.

 _'He was reciprocating! He was-'_ Jack swallowed dryly. _'Oh my god, I almost kissed Gabe. Shit! Shit shit-'_

 _'It was the same as back then.'_ Gabriel stared at a far bulkhead, barely blinking. _'Nothing's changed at all. Holy shit. I'm- I like Jack. I like- I- he-???'_

"You two look weird."

Both jumped, prompting Genji to give an odd, electronic crackle-snort.

They'd discuss this later, Gabriel decided even as an odd ringing in the back of his head sounded vaguely like a shriek of joy. Just had to wait until after the mission. "Something about Hal-Fred Glitchbot?" His voice felt hollow. …Was Jack moving away?

Keep head above water. Don't focus on it- it probably was nothing. _'Damn it, Jack. This was just like the moment across the chess board. Don't let it distract you._ Strike Commander Morrison emerged, expression hard. "Did you find something?" If he didn't think about it, it would be easier for both of them in the long run-

Gabriel's hand wrapped around Jack's, slipped underneath, and interlocked their fingers. 

Jack's Strike Commander persona faded as soon as it had arrived, buried under shock and the digits between his squeezed assuredly. A quick look Gabe's way didn't shed much light on the situation. Carefully, Jack squeezed back, his whole arm threatening to shake.

"Uh." Genji looked between the two Commanders. Something was up. He couldn't tell what yet. But something. "Athena and I were looking through the recent news articles for the area and there were some front page articles over a filmmaker getting targeted due to anti-omnic sentiment. They started up around the time McCree stopped moving north and haven't stopped since. Think he might be involved-?"

"Possibly." Heart of gold indeed. McCree would certainly put a stop to it if he thought he could, the stubborn ass. Gabriel nodded, barely succeeding in holding back the glee threatening a smile on his face. They'd held hands before but this felt different. _This_ felt different. "Do you have any other specs?"

"If McCree IS involved, he and Mr. Glitchbot are bound to be at or near Goldshire Studios." Genji pulled up a map on his tablet and handed it over. "The route is fairly simple, but we'll have to get into the lot without much attention."

Jack grinned fiercely. Was it just him, or did holding Gabriel's hand really give him the strength to take on anything? It was so cheesy, but damn. "Let's go over the route. I'm sure we can find a way in."

\--

By the time they'd arrived, the plan was solid. Get in, see if McCree was there and, if not, get out as quickly and stealthily as possible. Jack and Gabe would act the tourists, Genji would stay out of sight until needed. And so, as soon as they'd gotten dropped off in a nearby park, they quickly went their separate ways with Genji disappearing into the first alley he spotted. That left the two walking down the boulevard towards the Mandarin Theatre, still hand-in-hand.

Los Angeles had been nearly flattened by the omnic attack during the first Crisis, but the city had been re-built to almost its former glory. New skyscrapers glistened in the Californian heat, the sidewalks just clear enough to be passable by a cleaner bot, and the blue sky was…intoxicating. A memory tugged at Gabriel of another time he'd gotten to focus on such a blue sky, this time moving in reverse to get a look at Jack's eyes as they walked.

"Hey. Uh-"

"Later." They shared a look, Jack biting his lower lip through a smile. "Definitely later." _'Mission first. After that, we should talk.'_

"Okay. Great. Uh- yeah." Gabriel awkwardly looked back away. Oh god. Why was this so hard? He felt as nervous as a teenager.

As if reading his thoughts, Jack squeezed their combined hands and slowly began to swing them back and forth between them. It didn't feel like a mission at all at this point. Honestly, it felt like a date…forgoing the part where they needed to find McCree. Ack- needed to concentrate on that!

Their arms swung gently, Gabriel's tongue playing with the inside of the fake lip ring as he chanced another look over. Maybe it was good they were starting this off so slow. Probably for the best-

**BOOM**

The explosion rocked the square, windows exploding around them. The soldiers instinctively ducked for cover, Jack shoving his sunglasses on and keeping a solid hold on his rucksack-covered pulse rifle until the rumbles died down. 

Gabriel was pulling on his clawed gauntlets before the shaking had even stopped, shotguns appearing in his hands with a twist of his wrists. It was easy to tell that the source of the noise had been from up the street- directly towards the Goldshire Studios lot. "We need to move."

Rucksack stuffed in one pocket, Jack shoved a round into his rifle and shouldered it. "Let's take the back route. It'll be easier to survey from afar."

The original plan had been to walk through the front door, but Jack was right. Quickly, they ducked into a nearby café, the dark purple décor deserted as the former patrons ran from the scene, and up the stairs. If Genji was right, it would lead right out to-

Well. Hot damn. Good intel. 

Gabriel ducked the corner with Jack at his side, counting five assailants on balconies above the scene and several more coming in from the side opposite them. Those top assholes needed dealing with first. He turned to Jack, motioning with his guns. _'I'll take top. You go around back and take out the flunkies to the side.'_

They traded mock salutes and matching shit-eating grins before splitting, Gabriel concentrating to keep his attire together as he teleported behind the attackers on the balcony. Odd. They almost looked like…Los Muertos? Why were they so far west and north? It didn't really matter, but it was strange to see the crew outside Dorado. Just as he was about to take out the two before him, five cracks lit the air in succession. All five with high ground fell to the ground swearing, their gun-hands successfully wounded. The two unlucky enough to turn around to face Gabriel were knocked unconscious from the collision of their own heads, the former Black Ops Commander shoving the bodies under an overhang where they wouldn't be seen before ducking down to survey the situation through the balcony railing. 

A black limo sat in the square below, gunshots pinging off the outside, and Jesse McCree crouched on top of it, unmistakable from his hat down to his spurred leather boots. The beard had grown in since Gabriel had seen it last, the skin a bit more weathered, and there was a metallic arm (?!) in place of flesh on the left-hand side, but it was absolutely the cowboy. Genji had hit the situation right on the nose apparently, the limo beginning to move below McCree's feet as the assailants regrouped from the side. The vehicle had nearly reached the gates of the lot when the next wave came in, guns blazing. The cowboy rolled off to the ground in search of a better defensive position, only to met with what would have been a hailstorm of bullets- but for the ninja suddenly in front of him. 

\--

Jesse McCree had always reckoned himself to be a rather street-smart individual, especially given his set of…skills, to put it lightly. The right tip of a hat was just as handy as the gun in your hand, especially paired with the right use of environmental factors (sure, he'd like another cup of coffee- my, that dust looks ripe for kicking). Street smarts had given him the chance to take out some of the racist assholes patrolling the area for omnics without much fuss. That, in turn, had given him the chance to bodyguard for one of the most well-to-do omnics in the area. Sure, Glitchbot could be a downright prune at times…but it was the principle of it all. 'Sides, he had respectable income for the first time in months and no one gave him a second look as a 'cosplayer'. Good ol' Hollywood.

But this was a right pickle of a situation, one he didn't much like being in the middle of. The numbers of these Los Muertos goons weren't slowing anytime soon- felt like he was going mono-a-mono with an army of bioluminescent punks. There were only so many times a fella could get lucky, Jesse reasoned as he watched the new wave approach. If they thought he was going down without a helluva fight though, they were dead wrong-

What? Someone landed in front of him in a grey and green hoodie, metallic legs extending from the outerwear and bending in a crouch. Jesse kept an eye on the silver fella while picking off a few Muertos trying to sneak around the other side, only to realize exactly what heat the stranger was packing. A familiar sword was pulled from a hidden sheath, the cowboy gaping as he realized just who had landed beside him. In a blur of motion, bullets were deflected back at the suddenly panicking Muertos, who tried to run in the opposite direction-

"Genji?" McCree reloaded, knocked another asshole away with a shot to the shoulder, and grinned. "Helluva entrance."

"You and your entrances." An electronic sigh.

GodDAMN! It WAS him! "You're a sight for sore eyes." Despite their falling out back in the day, it really was good to see him again. Having the Shimada by his side was mighty nice- certainly better than fighting on his lonesome. 

Genji's metallic face turned to him, glowing green. "…It's good to see you again as well, cowboy."

Another explosion lit up the square, McCree swearing as he ducked for cover again. Just as quickly though, he realized that the Muertos were scattering as if they hadn't set off the charge like they had before. What-?

"Ah." Genji waved a hand to someone too far away for Jesse to see in his crouch. "The cavalry has arrived."

"Cavalry?" 

From opposite sides of the building, two men emerged. One looked like a senior citizen straight off the plane from Hawaii except for the massive gun that had apparently caused the explosion, another going off with a triple-weaving blast Jesse could barely make out. _Pulse rocket munitions?_ The other looked like a goth grandpa straight outta punkville, guns thrown to the side as he used the nearby thugs' momentum against them and sent them flying. Weird. Looked…familiar. Soon enough, the two reached them, eyes wild and, strangely, barely out of breath for a pair of old guys.

"Howdy." McCree politely tipped his hat even as all four ran for the cover of the limo, which had finally made it through the lot gates. They made it through just as the large doors slammed shut behind them. "I appreciate the back-up though I'm uncertain of the occasion."

The Hawaiian grandpa was about to respond, but the punk fella shoved him forward, a shotgun _materializing in his hand and blasting a nearby goon backwards in a fashion Jesse had seen only a few thousand times._ The cowboy hesitated only briefly, revolver up and into the man's face once he had his bearings.

"What the fuck." Jesse snarled, staring down a dead man. His nose was half missing and his skin was unnaturally smooth in places (concealer?), but it was him. Goddamnit, it was his own personal boogeyman. "What the FUCK."

"Surprise." Gabriel growled back, not acknowledging the gun pointing at his head. "That's not going to do anything. You might as well not bother."

"It'd sure as hell make me feel better." McCree growled right back. His finger strayed to the trigger, pulling but not quite displacing the bullet. Reyes was here, which meant he wanted something. Goddamnit. GODDAMNIT. How had Reyes found him? Finally, he shifted the gun to the side and caught a Muertos goon jumping in from above in the leg, barely missing his old Commander's head. Reyes, unsurprisingly, didn't even flinch.

…Gabriel almost flinched. It took everything he had in him to face the barrel down and hope McCree didn't want to finish him off. He'd never actually taken a bullet to the brain before but he certainly had no aspirations of letting it happen anytime soon. Sure, he'd probably heal from it, but it'd certainly slow him down. In the middle of a firefight that was unacceptable. As a consolation prize, he offered McCree his back as he materialized the second shotgun, knocking back the goons that tried to get back up.

It was mighty tempting to take advantage of the turned back. Jesse considered it for a half second before forcing himself back to defending the car. Hawaiian grandpa had Reyes's nine o'clock so if he and Genji got their backs in a circle-

It felt like fighting in a real team again, like he was back in the fray of it. After almost a decade, Jesse couldn't help but fall into the rhythm of it. As they neared the end of the Western set, he let off another Deadeye to force the goons on the rooftops backwards, knowing instinctually that the other three would defend the needed recovery period. Sure enough, Genji knocked back the two trying to take advantage of the following pause, tourist guy taking point on the limo and blasting another set of pulse rockets into the nearby set, yells signaling at least an indirect hit, and Reyes personally stood next to him and bodily blocked anything coming their way. And then, when he least expected it-

"Bet you feel like you fit right in here, eh cowboy?" The words slipped as if on muscle memory, Gabriel blasting another thug backwards. "Did Glitchbot let you film at all?"

"Funny, that." Jesse huffed, not paying attention beyond silently screaming at himself for even responding. "He was too busy trying to not get killed."

"Is that all?"

McCree winced, cheek twitching. "…He said 'Jesse McCree' was a terrible name for a cowboy." It had been an awkward conversation with his 'boss', the omnic demeaning in the most offensive way possible. Clearly, it had been a test he had passed though- Glitchbot had offered him the bodyguard position not five minutes later.

"He WHAT."

Turning momentarily, Jesse was surprised to see an expression on Reyes's face he'd rarely seen in the later years: righteous fury.

"That asshole! What the hell? You're out here defending him- least he could do is appreciate it." Gabriel hissed, using an empty shotgun as a projectile as he chucked it at an approaching Muertos, KOing the unfortunate soul right in the head. "Why the fuck are you working for this motherclucker anyway?"

Despite himself, Jesse snorted a laugh. That almost sounded like the Reyes that had picked him up from Deadlock all those years ago. "Good cause. Plus, pay's good."

The numbers began to thin as they reached the backlot, old spaceships clearing into open space and a locked pavilion. The second the car parked, all the doors through to them snapped shut- not that they were needed much, given the stunned bodies left in the wake of the trip. The omnic driver quickly exited the vehicle and let another significantly better-dressed omnic out of the back, the short robot huffing pompously as he walked up to McCree. 

"What took so long?!" Hal-Fred Glitchbot berated, metallic fist in the air. "I oughtta fire you! It took nearly ten minutes to reach a safe location despite your 'heroics'. And another thing-"

Suddenly, Jess came to the realization that he didn't need to put up with any of this. Instead, he held out his hand. "I'll take my last paycheck now."

Glitchbot stalled, visual receptors blinking as they stared at the hand, then realized just how many others were around him. "You're lucky I don't call the police on you." He muttered, taking out his charge card. "And if your friends think they're getting paid, they can keep on dreaming."

With a soft 'ding', the card connected with the cyber-collection unit on his arm, a few thousand credits adding themselves to his account. Jesse McCree tipped his hat. "Thank ya kindly." With that, he walked away and towards one of the locked doors.

Glitchbot stared the other three down menacingly, but seemed taken aback when Gabriel snorted. "No payment needed." The former Commander rumbled. "It's enough to see you embarrass yourself so thoroughly."

Silently, the three trailed after McCree, all four admiring their handiwork through the lot as they went. It wasn't until they were about to enter the Western set again that the cowboy turned on them, looking between the three. "Well?"

With a sigh, Hawaiian grandpa pulled a rucksack out of nowhere, put the gun inside, and slung it over his shoulder. "Don't suppose you're up for a drink?"

…The voice alone was a dead give-away. McCree just about fell on his ass, his mouth opening and closing wildly. "St-stri-Strike Commander?!"

Jack perched a hand on his hip, blue eyes gazing coolly up from over the sunglasses. "Well?"

"I-" He was alive. Reyes was alive. Genji was- Genji was HERE. They were all here.

…Hell.

"Yeah. Sure." Jesse swallowed. "One drink."

\--

The pub was a dark one, just the right kind for their purposes. A booth in the back and a beer apiece later, Jesse finally looked up across the table.

"This ain't a courtesy call. Spit it out." They'd been kind enough to not ask about his arm yet. Least he could do was not call them out on the 'not being dead' aspect.

Genji and the Strike Commander (just 'Morrison' now apparently, but old habits died hard) both looked to Reyes, who glowered at his drink as if it had caused him personal harm. "Talon just put a hit out on you."

McCree scoffed. "I don't suppose you've seen the bounty posters?" A hit on him. That was a laugh.

"Talon is part of the U.N."

Say WHAT. "Since when?"

"Since the beginning." Reyes finished off his beer and let the glass hit the wooden table with a dull 'thunk'. "They're the Blackwatch of the organization, not that most of the U.N. actually knows."

"…Fuck." It was one thing to lay low from Talon. Laying low from an international taskforce was not exactly the easiest road, especially while in L.A. of all places. Crowds usually helped disguise him, but the amount of security cameras here were a facial recognition away from cuing those bastards to his location. "Any particular reason they've got a bullseye on me?"

Reyes shifted uncomfortably.

McCree squinted at him. "What the hell did you do this time?"

"This time?" Jack chimed in amusedly.

Reyes scowled and elbowed him, the former Commanders silently bickering momentarily. It was good to see them getting along again, for once. McCree's gaze shifted to Genji, who shrugged. Interesting.

"Talon…was brainwashing me for some time, starting about ten years before Zurich's fall. Not long after, they set in full force and wiped most of my memory. They're not happy I got out from under their thumb and they're especially pissed I'm back with Overwatch." Reyes appeared nonchalant, but Jesse could see the muscle twitch under one eye, the tension in his shoulders. One hand was under the table, but one of the Stri- Morrison's was down there too. Keeping him cool, perhaps?

"Hold up." Jesse raised a hand. "You were _brainwashed_ during Blackwatch? How the hell did that happen?" It explained a helluva lot, especially the personality change he'd seen in Reyes those last few years and the insidious actions that had caused him to leave.

Despite the make-up, Reyes appeared to pale. "Mostly subliminal at first." He muttered. "O'Deorain got her claws in to me later-"

"Moira _was_ with Talon back then?" Genji stared between them. "Why is this the first time I've heard any of this?"

"It's not exactly small-talk material." Morrison leaned closer to Reyes, almost…defensively? Comfortingly? What was going on between them?

"On top of that, you're back with Overwatch? Are all three of you back at Overwatch now?" McCree asked incredulously. Genji had been disillusioned with it all and Jack and Gabe had died in the fires of the Zurich explosion…or so he thought. Three nods was all the confirmation he needed. Arms crossed, he glared them down. "If you're askin' me to join up-"

"It would be the smartest option." Morrison glared right back. "You're a sitting duck out here, McCree. Gibraltar is the safest place in the world for you right now-"

"It ever occur to you that I maybe don't enjoy being in the safest places-? Most of the time, the safest places involve putting everyone in one room and lighting it on fire. Or were you two even AT Zurich when it took the rest of Overwatch with it?" Callous? Maybe. But he needed to get it across that he wasn't going- to-

That hadn't been the response he'd expected. Now, it looked like Reyes was comforting Morrison, who refused to look Jesse in the eye with grief painted across his face. With haunted eyes, his former Blackwatch Commander lifted his chin and held McCree's gaze. "We were both there."

Oh.

Oh fuck. But that would mean-

McCree's head ducked down, hat hiding his face. "…Sorry."

"Jesse." Genji finally addressed him, snapping the focus back onto him. "Are you interested in coming back or not?"

"…No." McCree admitted. "I'm not interested."

With a quiet sigh, the cyborg rose and gave a short bow to his old teammate. "It was good to fight beside you again." 

This was it then. Jesse nodded. "You too, partner."

Genji turned and walked out of the pub.

"He's probably going to call the dropship for pick-up." Reyes muttered. He'd known going into this that the only positive outcome might be to warn McCree, but it felt like a loss none the same. With a lean against the other Commander and a whisper in his ear, Morrison got up reluctantly. He hesitated, then strode up to McCree with hand outstretched.

"Take care of yourself out there and don't hesitate to call if you need back-up." 

Jesse felt a smile quirk his lips. There was the Strike Commander he remembered. "Sir, yes sir." He shook the hand firmly and waved as Morrison left to follow Genji. Which…left him with a former asshole boss. Great. Perhaps antagonizing him would help push the situation to its inevitable conclusion.

"Nice hardware. Didn't take you for the piercing type."

Reyes blinked, then grinned. With deft fingers, he pulled the ring off and slipped it into a jean pocket. "Fake. Though I couldn't say the same about your hardware." A nod towards the cybernetic arm cemented the inquiry.

"Mind your goddamn business, Reyes."

"Touchy touchy." With a stretch backwards, Reyes's neck popped…a bit more than Jesse would have expected it to. Weird. "You're not the only one with implants these days. Don't take it personally."

He wasn’t going to push it? Now THAT was interesting. "Why are you still here?"

"Cuz I know you." 

What the hell did that mean?

"You're confused. Angry. Frustrated. You hate me for what happened and I can't blame you for that." Reyes snagged Genji's full beer off the table and started working on it. "But Talon is after you because of your connection to me so I knew I owed it to you to give you fair warning." 

"So why not just give the warning and go? You, of all people, know why I'm not interested in going back to Overwatch."

"Yeah." Reyes sighed. "Yeah, I do. But look, we have a dropship that's prepared to take us back to Spain and, if you want, it can drop you anywhere you want along the way. You'd have your pick of the States and even parts of Europe if you want it."

Okay, now THAT sounded like a deal. McCree sat back. "What's the catch?"

"No catch."

"You're just gonna offer me a free ride, just like that?"

"Just like that."

"After I walked away, you still would chance it all to save my ass?" It's only after the words leave that Jesse realize what he's said, mouth opening to quickly cover that up with a sarcastic quip- but, of course, Reyes beat him to the punch.

"You bet I would."

McCree's mouth snapped shut.

"You're involved with Overwatch because of me. Talon's mark on you is because of ME. You think I wouldn't have offered you an out from Blackwatch if I'd been in my right mind?" A partly-deranged laugh burst from Reyes. "I would have gotten out myself if I'd known what was actually going on. You were the smartest one of all of us, Jess."

That was- not what he'd expected to hear at all. "Didn't get very far without running into shit." Jesse muttered under his breath.

"I bet you got out of it though, even if you had to leave some pieces of yourself behind."

Now that was too close to home. How had he even guessed-?!

"I'm offering you a one-way ticket to wherever you want, no strings attached." Reyes leaned across the table. "You in, Jesse McCree?"

_"You in, Jesse McCree?" A man in a beanie and a hoodie offered him a hand. The seventeen year-old Deadlock member had barely hesitated. Better than jail time, by far._

Jesse sighed. "Yeah. Fine, you old bastard." Damn it all to hell.

\--

When they'd first entered the dropship walking side by side, Morrison and Genji had given them quite the startled look. "Hey now," Jesse held his hands up. "I'm only here for the free ride."

"The what?" Morrison parroted back, turning on Reyes. "What is this?"

"We're already headed back to Gibraltar. Why not drop McCree on the way? Might as well at least get him out of dodge."

"We are not a taxi, Gabriel."

"What, you're saying this isn't _fare_?" Reyes teased.

McCree stared in disbelief as the two Commanders sniped at each other even as the dropship rose in the air. "Is this a new thing?" He asked Genji in disbelief.

A shrug was offered, but nothing more.

Great. Jesse leaned back and tilted his hat over his face. It was a ten hour flight to England at least, so maybe he'd be able to grab a little shut-eye on the way over.

\--

As it turned out, all four of them managed to konk out during the flight back. McCree woke when something shook his shoulder, reaching for Peacekeeper automatically-

"Easy there, cowboy."

…Right. Reyes. Insufferable, asshole-

Jesse lifted the brim of his hat and gasped.

"What?" Commander Reyes huffed back down at him, his skin scarred beyond belief and blotchy as if someone had decided to paint misshapen clouds along his body as a canvas. The clothing had remained, but his _face_ was- it- wow. 

"You, uh, your face." McCree replied intelligently. 

"Yeah. Woke up to find half my face smeared on Jack's shirt. He's pissed but hoping it washes out." Reyes cupped his hands conspiratorially. "I hope it doesn't."

Jesse snorted.

"I'm sure you have plans, but in case you need to lay low, here's some extracurricular reading." A drive was extended to McCree, who eyed it warily.

"I thought you said 'no strings attached'."

"This IS 'no strings attached'." Reyes crouched in front of him. "I didn't know what we were really up against until recently. I haven't told Jack or the others yet- I will, later- but if you're not going to be there, then you should have a heads-up."

"A heads-up for what? Talon? The U.N.?"

"Everything. They're all connected. Don't skip over the part about the God AIs- that's an interesting read. Unfinished, sure, but a helluva lot to take in." 

God AIs? Hell. Jesse took the drive and tucked it into a panel in his body armor. "You planning on taking down this next Omnic Crisis too?" It had been a running joke in Blackwatch that Reyes had saved the world and then retired into obscurity and psy-ops.

"Hell yes."

Well now. Really? McCree chuckled. "And this thing with Morrison? You gonna pursue that too?" …WELL. He'd never seen Reyes's face flush that red in his life.

"You picked up on that, huh?" 

Wait, were they actually a-?! 

"Don't think we're calling it anything right now. Too early. But…yeah. If we're on the same page as I think we are, then…yeah." Reyes fumbled over himself at it, stealing glances back at Morrison (who, mercifully, appeared fast asleep and lightly snoring).

Okay, that was just adorable. Go figure that the two big bosses actually had a thing for each other. "Good luck, jefe."

Reyes grinned, standing and offering McCree a hand up. "Good luck yourself, cowboy. Careful that you're chasing the tumbleweeds and they aren't chasing you."

"Always." Jesse took the hand, shaking it firmly once he was on his feet. The grip was as firm as Morrison's had been, if perhaps a bit more sentimental in that he'd shaken this hand so many times before. 

The dropship descended, the other two occupants fast asleep as the ramp extended to the ground and Jesse McCree walked out, serape blowing in the cool English air. Without looking back, the cowboy walked off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Player confirmed:  
> G7- pawn- McCree

**Author's Note:**

> For those wishing to follow along, I'll be posting the moves of Gabriel's chess game in the notes of each chapter.
> 
> Here is the set-up from above:  
> Talon (red pieces)  
> A1- rook- Head of Null Sector (currently nameless)  
> A2- pawn- Null Sector forces  
> B1- knight- Sanjay Korpal  
> B2- pawn- Vishkar  
> C1- bishop- Maximillien  
> C2- pawn- Widowmaker  
> D1- king- U.N. Special Ops Committee  
> D2- pawn- Talon Forces  
> E1- queen- Bill Petras  
> E2- pawn- Sombra  
> F1- bishop- Moira  
> F2- pawn- Sigma  
> G1- knight- Guillermo Portero  
> G2- pawn- LumeriCo  
> H1- rook- Doomfist  
> H2- pawn- (unknown- formerly Reaper)
> 
> Overwatch (white pieces)  
> A8- rook- Reinhardt  
> A7- pawn- Brigitte  
> B8- knight- Jack  
> B7- pawn- Ana  
> C8- bishop- Mercy  
> C7- pawn- Lucio  
> D8- king- Winston (hope)  
> D7- pawn- Mei  
> E8- queen- Tracer  
> E7- pawn- Echo  
> F8- bishop- Genji  
> F7- pawn- Zenyatta  
> G8- knight- Gabe  
> G7- pawn- McCree (?)  
> H8- rook- Torbjörn  
> H7- pawn- Bastion


End file.
